mmm-yoso!!!

Rudford's Restaurant

Rudford's has always had a strange pull on the Missus, as light does a moth. I'm not quite sure what it is about the place......

Rudford's does have one thing going for it, in a town where most everything except chain restaurants close by 10 pm, Rudford's stays open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

And having been around for sixty years does say something about staying power, though I must say that many of the customers(and smells) eating at Rudford's seem like they've been coming here since 1949.

If you look up the definition of the word "Diner" in the American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, you'd read: "A small, usually inexpensive restaurant with a long counter.....

and booths......."

Say what you will, being around so long says something about staying power...... We found the staff to be mostly really nice folks, patient with the wide range of customers, from cranky old folks, to people obviously fighting psychological demons, to drunk, post nightclub kids. We found the younger Servers to be much more flexible than the two older women, with chain smoker complexions, who called everyone "honey" in a raspy voice....... tough birds both of them. Half the fun is the atmosphere.

The food ranges from good honest fare, to stuff that harkens flashbacks to the stuff I ate in my Junior High and High School Cafeteria. As I often say, "it's a fine line between comfort and really bad food".

So for better or worse, here's a rundown of a couple of dishes we've had at Rudford's.....

The Hot Roast Beef Sandwich ($9.25):

When I requested Fries with Gravy instead of mashed potato, the young man told me "no problem", and that's what I got. Perfectly fried steak style fries smothered in brown gravy....Sysco heaven! Ever since I visited Canada back in the 90's, I've loved Poutine. The roast beef was tender, but stringy, and reminded me of cafeteria fare, but it was not inedible. There's something about old fashioned white bread soaked in gravy that I enjoy as well....

 

The Missus ordered the Chicken Fried Steak and Eggs:

Though the pounded beef was very tender, it was super bland. The country gravy was like eating paste. The Missus did enjoy the O'Brien potatoes, and of course She rarely meets an egg She doesn't like.

One quick thing....what is it with these places and toast? They all seem to do toast right, dry but not crumbly, a good tool for sopping up egg, or other stuff.....

On another visit, I wasn't too happy with my Turkey Club Sandwich ($7.95).... funny thing, to the day She passed on, my Mom always called this a "Clubhouse Sandwich", never a Club Sandwich:

I appreciated the perfect smear of mayo. It's a funny thing, I eschew mayo on most sandwiches, but must have it on my Club(house). I wasn't too happy with the processed turkey and for some reason the American Cheese threw the entire sandwich off.

Lucky for me, I requested and received this for my fries (crinkle cut Sysco-fied this time):

Yes.....brown gravy. Given to me, no charge... a meal saver.....

The Missus got the Monday thru Friday 2 Eggs, Potatoes, and Toast special ($3.79):

No complaints from the Missus......

On Sunday there are two dinner/lunch specials. Like all of these type meals it starts with soup. In this case a pretty decent chicken noodle soup. Noodles kinda mushy, but okay.....

The Missus ordered the Chicken and Dumplings.

Let's just say that for us, this was an example of the worst that restaurants of this ilk put out. Bland, poorly prepared, purely created for the "dead tastebud society". Ick.........

I had the Turkey Dinner, which did look kinda cafeteria-like, down to the little thingy of cranberry sauce:

But the turkey was decent, moist and tender enough. I didn't care for the stuffing, which was very mushy. And of course, I got you-know-what-with-you-know-what. Do you see a common thread????

Stay away from the cooked vegetables if you can though, unless you just had dental surgery, or perhaps forgot your dentures. The veggies were also artificially sweet.....

Remember the peas you squished between your teeth with your tongue to gross people out???? Perfect candidates here.....

On one occasion, I tried the Chili and Scrambled Eggs with potatoes and toast ($7.95):

It turned out that the Missus really enjoyed the chili..... so She ordered it on a return visit, and got a bit of "chili revenge"...... She still wants more though......

At the end of the day, the food may ride the mediocre line, but the characters(on both sides of the counter) and attitude can't be beat. I think there's a place for Rudford's, a place where you don't concern yourself with words and phrases like "non commodity", "organic", "sustainable", "free-range", or "fair trade", and for some reason I find that kinda well, refreshing...... in a retro kinda way. I'll concern myself with those other issues on another day.

To quote one of the Server's when asked for Honey-Mustard Dressing; "I can give you honey, and I can give you mustard darlin', but we can't do honey-mustard.... we're old school!"

Rudford's Restaurant
2900 El Cajon Blvd
San Diego, CA

Open 24 hours everyday

Evening Two at Artisan: Paso Robles

Almost everyone likes roadtrips. Cathy and Kirk both travel, but today ed (from Yuma) wants to tell you about a dinner he and Tina enjoyed on their roadtrip north.

Tina and I returned to Artisan on a Monday night after having thoroughly enjoyed our Sunday night dinner.  In some ways, we might as well have come back a year later as most of the kitchen staff and waitstaff seemed different.  Only the attentive manager and our hard working busser seemed familiar from the night before.

Even the bread that was placed in front of us was clearly different: While decent enough, these slices lacked the thick crunchy crust of the previous bread.

On this evening, we had decided to build a meal around a local red wine, a J Dusi Zinfandel ($40): The Dusi Vineyards have been growing some of the best Zinfandel grapes in the Paso Robles area for many years.  These family Vineyards have supplied premium grapes for such outstanding wineries as Ridge.  Today, Janell Dusi produces her own wines from the vineyards planted by her grandfather, Dante Dusi, over 60 years ago.

This bottle lived up to its pedigree, and both Tina and I thought it was superb -- fruity, deeply flavorful, and incredibly smooth with spicy and earthy notes.  It matched the meal well.

For her first course, Tina deecided to try a California Burrata ($13). This type of cheese, based upon Italian custom, is like a combination of fresh mozzarella and cream.  It is rich and barely cheesy.  In her appetizer, it had been drizzled with olive oil and dominated one side of her plate:
As you can see, it was accompanied by French bread toast, smoked almonds, microgreens, and fresh slices of both white and yellow peaches.  Scrumptious and beautiful.

On the other side of her appetizer plate lay paperthin slices of salty old school prosciutto: Her appetizer touched all the bases.  Creamy soft and crunchy.  Sweet and salty.  Rich and fruity.

I opted for the herbed meatballs ($12), which were served with ricotta gnocchi, heirloom tomato ragout, cooked nettles, and grated hard Italian cheese: This appetizer was more focused than Tina's.  The herby meatballs were a delight, nicely complemented by the tomatoey ragout, the sautéed greens, and the mellow grated cheese.  The gnocchi were light as cumulus clouds in a summer sky and matched perfectly with the other ingredients.

When it arrived, Tina's entrée, from one side, looked like a mushroom and vegetable stirfry: The chard, king trumpet mushrooms, and various pole beans contributed a range of flavors and textures.  In particular, the beans were still crunchy and the trumpet mushrooms gave the palate a firm chewy mouth feel.

The main attraction on her plate, however, was the sliced Niman Ranch hanger steak ($26), cooked perfectly -- seared but left rare in the center:
It was very tender and flavorful.  The bordelaise sauce was a bit salty for my taste, but it was clearly a background note on her plate.

Her entrée was accompanied by a ramekin of what I would call scalloped potatoes, described on the menu as onoway potato gratin: As good as her entrée was, I liked mine even more: This was a pasture raised veal striploin lying on a bed of creamy rich asparagus risotto, topped with asparagus spears, hen of the woods mushrooms, Madeira sauce, gremolata (garlic/parsley oil), and pea shoots ($28) .  This tasted so wonderful, that it deserves a second photo: The veal loin was, like Tina's steak, perfectly cooked.  The exterior had been seared, but the flesh was still richly pink.  The abundant Madeira sauce was sweeter and less salty than the bordelaise.  I was blown away!

For dessert, we chose the three chocolate crèmes brûlées ($9): Under the crunchy caramelized skin, each brûlée featured a different flavor of chocolate.  The one on the right was white chocolate, in the center Mexican chocolate with notes of cinnamon, and on the left  deep dark rich chocolate.  The last one was my favorite, but we used our spoons to scrape out every bit of creamy goodness from all of them.

Both Tina and I had thought that our second dinner could not possibly live up to the first.  We were wrong.

Artisan, 1401 Park Street, Paso Robles, California 93446, 805-237-8084

COMC: Stockdale's Fine Southern Cuisine

You'll be able to tell, how long ago our visit was based on the photos, thus the "COMC" (Clearing Out the Memory Card) preface. We've been meaning to return but I don't forsee that happening in the near future, so I thought it was about time I posted. Actually, getting to Stockdale's was an interesting enough story. Stockdale's had been on my list for a while, and one day the Missus came to me asking about some of those restaurants. I mentioned Stockdale's, and told Her that the restaurant was located in the former location of Papa Doc's.The Missus told me that Stockdale's sounded like a great idea, and made plans for dinner..... without me! A couple of weeks after Her dinner with friends we made it to Stockdale's:

 

You can tell by the "decoration" about when this was, right? The interior didn't look like it had changed much since it was Papa Doc's.

Because the Missus had tried a bunch of things with Her friends, She was able to make some suggestions regarding the menu.

Based on Her previous visit, She had determined that the Fried Snapper was the best of the trio of fishes offered. and went with a Fried Snapper entree ($11.95):

 

The Missus was right, the snapper was moist, the breading well flavored, it was spot on. The Missus got Hushpuppies and Collard Greens as Her two "sides". The collard greens were bland and disappointing, and I thought the hushpuppies bland, and on the greasy side. The Missus, who has never met a hushpuppy She didn't like, thought they were fine.

I ordered the Fried Chicken ($11.95). I was told that the Chicken is cooked to order, even on buffet nights, so it would be a 20 minute wait. For piping hot fried chicken? No problem:

 

The chicken was delivered piping hot, and each piece was fried to a perfectly. I found the flavor to be on the bland side, and the batter to be very light, but not in an unpleasant way. I had also gotten the collard greens. I also ordered smothered red potatoes, which was pretty good. I wish the potatoes were a bit softer, as some pieces were hard. The gravy was also light, but had a nice flavor. In fact, I think smothered chicken might be the way to go.

 

Knowing that the Missus loves Fried Okra, I ordered some Okra as an extra side:

 

These were lightly battered and a bit short on the seasoning, but not bad.

We were the only customers in the place during our visit, and found the service to be very warm and welcoming....in a downhome way. Stockdale's claims to serve "Alabama style" Southern Cuisine, but I'm not quite sure what that is. The location is in the corner of a strip mall off of University with there's lots of parking. Stockdale's also offers "all you can eat" buffet nights - I believe 6-8pm Mondays is AYCE Fried Chicken and Fridays is AYCE Fried Catfish, you may want to call to verify. Overall, I thought the food ok, and perhaps we'll return, but I'm not sure when.

Stockdale's Fine Southern Cuisine
6523 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92115

(619) 265-1494

Hours: Mon, Wed-Thu 1100am - 800pm
       Fri-Sat 1100am - 1000pm
       Sun 1200pm - 800pm

Tender Greens- a franchise concept that is not cookie cutter

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog, written by Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and Cathy.  Whenever we feel like it.  Today, Cathy feels like it.

Hi.  If you have been to Liberty Station-( the old Naval Training Center- where part of Top Gun was filmed), you have probably seen the Trader Joe's, the very cool Vons (you enter in a courtyard/open roof area and then go inside to the left for more or less  prepared foods and to the right for more or less groceries- with an extensive adult beverage area), the Starbucks, Sammy's, Panera, La Salsa, as well as The Rock Church and High Tech High.

If you go to the Southern side of the main complex, you'll see on the other side of the fountain,

The overhead sign, and then walking down a long corridor, you'll see

 The smaller overhead sign and the entrance door around the corner.

Step inside, and there is a menu overhead, where you can peruse the offerings (including daily specials in the center bottom  portion)

Basically, the mains are either $5 or $10, with and without protein and then there are a few variables (soup of the day, hot plates, sandwiches).

You order right there, as you see above, and then walk along the line, seeing orders being made...

Varieties of lettuces, dressings, toppings.

Fresh and grilled vegetables...

and flank steak, chicken and seared ahi tuna

Everything is assembled in front of you and at the end of the line, where you can order beverages (including wine) and a choice of desserts.  You pay here.  

Then you find a seat.

  There is an interior area and an outside eating area. It is clean, modern and there are plenty of tables.

This is the $5 baby spinach salad, with goat cheese, hazelnuts and served with a cabernet vinaigrette.

This is the Grilled Chicken Cobb ($10).  It is made with Romaine, Point Reyes blue cheese, Heritage bacon (thick, large cubes of the cooked smoked, deep flavored bacon), avocado, egg, tomato and the dressing is not very garlic-y.

The plates are given to you on these -jelly roll pans, and the water glasses are just so nice.  

The Nicoise Tuna Salad ($10) is plentiful, with green beans, olives, capers, potato, tomatoes and the teensy egg you see there, topped with a sherry vinaigarette.  The tuna is cooked rare and is tender and very, very good, the topping on the tuna is light and parsley-oil based.  

The hot plate of flank steak, yukon gold mashed potatoes and side salad (this one Romaine with Caesar dressing) ($10) was perfectly seasoned and *really* good.

Yes, technically it is a franchise.  There are only three locations (here, Culver City and West Hollywood).  It is done extremely well.  We have not had any desserts here, but have heard they are home made and change daily.  Maybe when we aren't full... 

Tender Greens, Liberty Station Marketplace, 2400 Historic Decatur Road, San Diego 92106 (619)226-6254   Website

 

Dining at Artisan: Paso Robles

Cathy and Kirk continue eating, but today ed (from Yuma) is not only eating, but he's also inviting you to share a dinner.

I first visited Paso Robles nearly 25 years ago (geez, I'm getting old).  Back then it was quite literally a little Cowtown.  Maybe there were six or seven wineries scattered around, some of which weren't especially good, and I could find no interesting place to eat in town.  Nowadays, over 230 wineries lie within a few miles of the city, and numerous eateries beckon you to sample their gourmet cuisine.

My favorite place for dining in the town had been Bistro Laurent, which features a modern California approach to traditional French cuisine.  Memories of dishes like veal cheeks, roast squab, and venison shanks still make me salivate.  Unfortunately we were going to be in town on a Sunday and Monday, the two days BL closes each week.

So Tina and I did some research and then walked around downtown Paso reading menus, asking about daily specials, and discussing where we wanted to go.  The decision, however, was an easy one to make as soon as we got to Artisan: The dishes on the menu sounded interesting, the wine list was varied and almost affordable, and all that walking around made us hungry.

As we sat at our table looking over the menu, several slices of outstanding crunchy French bread (baked by a small bakery in Atascadero) showed up: This was the best bread on our trip.  The rustic half baguette came with a generous pat of soft sweet cream butter.  This was a good omen for the rest of the dinner.

We had decided on building a meal around a local white wine.  The most interesting wine, at least the most interesting one I could afford, was a Vermentino from Tablas Creek ($38): One great thing about dining at restaurants like Artisan and Passionfish is that you get a chance to try wines that you might otherwise never encounter -- particularly if you live in a place like Yuma, Arizona. This Vermentino is the first California grown version of that varietal that I have ever encountered on a wine list. Even in Europe, this type of grape is not common, it being the predominant white grape only on the island of Sardinia -- though it is grown elsewhere.  The Tablas Creek version was crisp, richly flavored, and smooth.

The appetizers soon arrived.  Tina had chosen crabcakes ($16), which were perched on quarter size disks of firm potato, covered in a very tasty, lightly spicy remoulade sauce.  A sprinkling of micro greens decorated the golden brown cakes: Although I don't quite understand the potatoes, which to my mind seemed out of place on the plate, the crabcakes themselves were packed with tasty crab meat: I ordered seafood chowder ($10) for my first course:
Having grown up close to the Oregon coast, I consider myself something of a chowder aficionado.  This one was quite good.  The broth was creamy and richly flavored.  Most notably, the predominant taste was mussels, with small chunks of potatoes and halibut studding the soup and providing texture variations.  Allegedly, some clams were also present, but any clams were very much in the background.

For my entrée, I had decided on the halibut, which came with lobster raviolis, grilled spring onions, micro greens, ceci beans (fresh chickpeas), and a small side of chard ($28): Halibut cannot be broiled more perfectly.  Inside the crisp crust, the fish was incredibly moist and tender: The beans and greens added variety to the platter.  The lobster raviolis, unfortunately, did not taste strongly of lobster, although they certainly looked right: As good as my main course was, Tina's selection was the gem of the entire evening.  On the menu it was described as "Summer truffle pici, handrolled pasta, piopinni mushrooms, goat cheese toast" ($25).  It looked like this: We both agreed that this was as good as a noodle dish can be.  The noodles themselves, lightly golden with the faintest hint of truffle, were mimicked by the shimeji (piopinni) mushrooms, which presented the same colors and shapes: Yet the flavors and textures of the two were very different.

The noodles and mushrooms were only one of the flavorful matrices that interacted on the plate.  The robust contrastive tastes of grated aged Italian cheese and absolutely fresh peas mingled with every bite of pasta.  To those of us bored by standard frozen peas, these freshly shelled nuggets were a joy -- and their flavor was accentuated by the pea greens strewn on top of the noodles:
If Tina's entrée had any shortcoming, it was the goat cheese toast: There was nothing wrong with it, but it was unnecessary and played a distinctly second fiddle in the orchestra of flavors set before her.

Even though one or two aspects of the dinner might have been better, we both were extremely impressed.  In addition to the creative, interesting, and flavorful food, the service had been friendly and attentive throughout the meal.  Just for one example, we both drank a lot of water that evening since we had been wine tasting in the afternoon and then had walked around 95 degree Paso Robles looking at menus.  As soon as the waitstaff watched us slurp down our first glasses, a large carafe of iced water was placed on the table. I also enjoyed watching the manager, a young woman who seemed to miss nothing going on in the restaurant. Kitchen and waitstaff totally professional.

This dinner was, by my standards, a pretty pricey meal.  It was, however, so tasty and intriguing that we decided to do something that I almost never do -- come back to the same place on the next night for a second meal.  Stay tuned for the results of that adventure.

Artisan, 1401 Park Street, Paso Robles, California 93446, 805-237-8084

Mimi's Café: Meals at the Faux Château (Yuma)

Kirk eats at chains; Cathy eats at chains; today ed (from Yuma) will let you know that he sometimes eats at chains too.

After Mimi's Café opened a branch here in Yuma, I kept getting reports from friends who liked the food.  So about a year ago, Tina and I descended on the restaurant to try a dinner.

From the outside, the place looks like a rustic châteaux (containing one or two small warehouses) plucked from the banks of the Loire and dropped into the middle of a large asphalt parking lot:

Inside, this same cultural/architectural mishmash rules.  You have the parque ceiling (I believe this is the correct term) like a 19th-century French bistro in the main room: you have open beamed ceilings and a fake balcony (not shown) in the New Orleans room (a New Orleans room?): and then you have a Romanesque barrel vaulted area that would bring to mind a medieval monastery with electric lighting, if of course the bricks were real:
 Nonetheless, some things about our first meal were very good.  Along with rather ordinary French bread, we received two slices of savory whole-wheat nut bread: Tina's Mediterranean Chicken Fettuccine, though containing numerous ingredients, was focused and tasty:
 The creamy asiago sauce, though a bit greasy, was not as heavy and rich as an Alfredo and didn't overwhelm the other flavors.  There were just enough chunks of chicken, and the pasta, while not aldente, was not overcooked.  Spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and marinated artichoke hearts added complexity to the flavor and color to the presentation.  A few chopped fresh tomatoes cubes and shreds of domestic Parmesan lay across the top of the noodles.

My chicken piccata was an attractive plate: As you can see, the two slices of chicken breast, showing grill marks, and four well prepared grilled and moist asparagus spears were the culinary stars of this dish.  What this picture barely shows, however, is that the poultry and the veggies lay atop a large mound of mashed potatoes.  Now I love mashed potatoes as much as the next person, but I really couldn't understand combining spuds with an Italian style main course.  In addition, while the flavors of everything worked fine, this entrée seemed to me to be as much a product of an accountant as a chef.  The mushroom was very thinly sliced,  only three capers dotted the meat, and the amount of lemony piccata sauce was slightly less than would be needed to flavor the two chicken slices.  No sauce for the potatoes -- though to be honest, they had a nice buttery flavor.

The side salad with ranch dressing was also decent.  The nice lettuce mix had shredded carrot, a couple of cucumber slices, a few bits of diced fresh tomato, and three large mass-produced croutons.  The amount of dressing seemed calculated to moisten the greens and veggies with nothing left over: I selected a glass of Sauvignon Blanc from the minimalist wine list and was pleased to see that the restaurant had figured out the glass-of-wine conundrum: What I mean is that serving a single glass of wine presents a restaurant with a problem.  If it uses small glasses, the wine must be filled up to the brim, which all of us winos know robs the wine of fragrance.  On the other hand, large stemware is much more expensive, and some customers feel cheated if the wine doesn't fill the glass.  Here the wine was served in a small carafe so that no one would feel cheated, the restaurant could use inexpensive stemware, and a customer could swirl the wine around in the glass.

The service on this (and every subsequent visit) was competent, professional, and friendly--clearly the staff is well trained.

As you can probably tell by the tone of this report so far, I was both amused and impressed by the ambiance, the businesslike way that Mimi's was managed, and by the generally competent cuisine.

On subsequent occasions, we have visited the restaurant for breakfast, mostly because my favorite local breakfast place has gone out of business (RIP Arnie's).  In general, our breakfast experiences at Mimi's have been hit and miss.  A good illustration of this was my recent order of waffles with sausage and egg: The two sausages were large and good, with standard breakfast sausage spicing and a firm meaty texture -- no greasy mouth feel at all.  The waffles, while nice looking, lacked any crispness and were dense and heavy. The over-easy eggs were well past easy: However, their fried eggs here usually have a nice crispy edge to them: On the other hand, some of the items on the breakfast menu are truly mediocre.  The orange juice is generic at best, the latte substandard, and while the blueberry muffin looks good: It is a reminder that at Mimi's sometimes looks are deceiving: The bran muffin, on the other hand, was outstanding (bran must be cheaper than blueberries): When Tina ordered the Cajun sausage with scrambled eggs and potato, the whole dish didn't quite reach okay.  The sausage had a peculiar taste (to my mind at least) and the home fries were flavorless and crunchless: My Monterey Omelette (with which I had "fresh fruit" instead of the potatoes) looked very pretty, but was pretty disappointing: Instead of being light and fluffy, the eggs were two dense slabs separated by a slice of flavorless jack cheese dotted with bits of real bacon. The visible part of the omelette was covered with more of the mediocre cheese, the only slice of avocado on the plate, and an additional strip of bacon (which looked better than it tasted).  The best part about this breakfast was the outstanding roasted tomato salsa.

Even the attractive fruit left something to be desired: The pineapple was still in its rind, and a couple of the almost hidden grapes were rotten instead of fresh.

On the other hand, some of our breakfast experiences have been more positive.  The eggs ranchero bowl, though containing some of the mediocre potatoes, has been a really a nice take on Huevos Rancheros: The beans are black beans, the tortilla is crunchy, and the two salsas (one chipotle and one tomatillo) add two good flavors.

My favorite breakfast item has been the cinnamon raisin French toast: While the toast is not especially eggy, its whole-wheat raisin bread with cinnamon is very good.  Unfortunately, on my last visit, this great item was missing from the menu. Who knows why.

Obviously, if this restaurant were truly bad, I wouldn't continue to try it again. I find the ambience and the decorations to be amusing and am impressed by the consistently good service.  Occasionally the ambience, which seems like what you would find in an independent eatery, is almost enough to make me forget I'm eating in a chain: And then I remember that the wine advertised on the poster is not available at the restaurant and the homey photos on the wall are just stock pictures. All is as real as the bronze fiddler. At Mimi's, there often is less than meets the eye. More surface than depth. This is a restaurant run by illusionists and bean counters -- but it must be said, very competent ones.

Mimi's Cafe Yuma, 1690 South Pacific Drive, 928-783-2680

A Burger Week Epilogue: Urban Solace

  Urban Solace has become one of the Missus's favorite restaurants. So it's probably about time I did a post. You can get a pretty good feel for the restaurant from the many food blog posts out there, by Alice Q Foodie, Clayfu , Gil,  and Beth. And though I've not been "wowed" by some of the items I've tasted in the past (such as a really greasy and salty pastrami), I've long coveted the burger. It just looks great arriving at the table. So burger week provided a great opportunity. 

    

I like the dining area at US, the ceiling height, colors, and lighting strike a nice balance. The menu consists of what Urban Solace calls "New American Comfort Food", basically American food with a twist, like the "Duck-a-roni".

As much as I wanted to complete this post, it almost did not see the light of day. On this visit, we sat out in the courtyard, and the bright sunlight and the surroundings ended up giving all my photos an orange hue. But in the end, here I was all dressed up and nowhere to go.....

On this visit we started with a favorite of the Missus, an order of the Cheese Biscuits ($4.25):

 

Personally, I'd prefer a bit more cheese flavor, or any flavor, to my biscuits, as these are very mild in flavor. I like the texture of these, they are moist, and soft, without getting to close to foccacia, and also have a nice mildly crisp (though not very flaky) "crust" that does not head into "scone-land". My personal preference is for the salty over the sweet, so I'd have preferred a really nice and light butter, rather than the overly sweet and salty Orange Honey Butter that is provided, though I can understand that this would be a good compromise for some.......

So of course I had the burger, which, like many of the menu items are plain, downright reasonable in price ($9.25). I was asked how I wanted my burger, which was medium, and hey, for once, my burger arrived "medium". I had pretty much written off the perfunctory ritual of asking how you want your burger done, as just "shibai", so it was nice to have my faith restored.

   

As AliceQFoodie notes, the burger comes fully dressed, with a mild cheddar, thousand island dressing, and the produce. The bun had a mild and pleasant sweetness to it, but it was too large upsetting the meat to bun ratio. This burger had a bit too much dressing, which overpowered the flavor of the beef. And, because it seemed that the burger had either not been rested, or had been brushed with a ton of butter, the combination of the dressing and the "juices" just made the bottom bun turn into mush in addition to making the whole thing seem a bit too rich and oily....a bit more acid would help cut the richness.  I scraped some of this off, so I could taste the burger, which had a pleasant beefy flavor.

As for the sweet potato fries, they are delicious, but arrive limp, wrinkled, and seemingly on the edge of rigor mortis, which makes eating them less pleasurable. The only semi-crisp sweet potato fries I've ever had or made, were baked, so I think Urban Solace would do just fine with regular fries, which I'm sure they'd pull off well.

The Missus ordered Her current favorite at Urban Solace, the Chicken and Dumplings, which at $15.95 was one of the more expensive items on the lunch menu.

 

I'm not a big fan of Chicken and Dumplings, so I'll just say, nice, tender and moist chicken, too much cream, and waaaay too much salt. And even though the Missus has been known to body slam a Moose to get to its salt lick, she ended up drinking 2 bottles of water on the way home. I'm sure She'll still order this again the next time.

The service at Urban Solace was very nice on this visit. Except for one strange thing. It seems like our Server has an interesting concept of "personal space". He really didn't want to get near us....to the point that I checked to make sure my 12 hour deodorant hadn't hit hour 13. He placed every dish on the opposite side of the table from us. So we had to stretch over the table to get our food. Nothing bad....just a bit odd.

As you'll notice from the menu on Urban Solace's Website, the prices a very reasonable. 

Urban Solace Restaurant
3823 30th Street
San Diego, CA 92104 

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Lightning Jack's BBQ - Clairemont

I'm sure you've felt this way.....totally pooped, half-way wiped out, hungry, and looking for something close to home. Which is why I ended up at Lightning Jack's, in the "food court" area of Clairemont Town Square.

I'm not quite sure why I decided to pick up dinner here...in the words of Captain Jack when I told him I bought BBQ from Lightning Jack's; "what the hell were you thinking?" Yeah, what was I thinking? I walked into the tiny restaurant, looked around, and almost decided to turn around.....but something kept me there.

And the gentleman running the place was very friendly...so I made a decision to just go for it. Looking over the menu, I noticed that the ribs were "St Louis Style", which made me understand that the type of ribs used were Spareribs. But I wondered if the sauce was St Louis style, a basic spicy-sweet tomato based sauce....sort of like what Phil's uses(more of that in a future post). A friend once gave me a bottle of Maull's which is supposed to represent that style of sauce. So I asked the Gentleman behind the counter what style of BBQ Lightning Jack's serves. His response? "Ummm...uhhh(blank look), we use a lot of liquid smoke!" Not very promising, but I ordered a  half-rack($10.49), which came with a roll, and a side. I chose Baked Beans, which the Missus loves.

The ribs were dry and tough, and the only smoke I could detect was from the super liquid smoked sauce(the Guy wasn't kidding).

 

My eyesight is getting pretty bad, but I couldn't detect a "smoke ring". Which kinda goes against what the menu says:

  I think I need to see the "pit smoker" if I ever eat there again.

The Missus enjoyed the beans, which I thought was very bland. I also ordered some Steak Cut Fries ($1.80), which was a very generous portion of thick cut fries which was probably the best thing about the meal.

I also ordered the Pulled Pork Sandwich ($5.99), which came with 1 side. I asked the Guy if I could just get some Hushpuppies with it, and being the amicable Gentleman, he said, "no problem".

Before the big sandwich reveal, let's read what the menu says:

For me that says a Hickory Smoked Pork Butt....... I haven't had North Carolina BBQ in North Carolina, but have had said style at Mike and Ed's and Country's in Columbus, Georgia, and Dusty's in Decatur, Georgia (near Emory University - Brunswick Stew....). And I can honestly tell you, this wasn't it. The pork was on the tough side, and you really could only taste the sauce......same sauce as the ribs. And no "pile of coleslaw"......

The Missus thought the Hushpuppies were okay. Since the Gentleman was nice enough to give us this instead of some other side, I'll give it a pass. I will say that I'm glad I still have my teeth after eating them.

In retrospect, perhaps I'm being a bit too harsh. But I try to be consistent....if you say you make Sichuan food, I'll expect Sichuan Peppercorns or at least something that is representative of the basic 23 flavors of Sichuan cuisine. Likewise, if you say something is North Carolina style BBQ..... If I didn't know better, perhaps my opinion would be very different.

I really don't even qualify as a novice when it comes to BBQ, and I've only eaten in 1 of those hallowed BBQ havens. I had lunch at Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City in 1997. I did have decent BBQ at a couple of places in Fort Smith, Arkansas (the only one whose name I can remember is Jerry Neel's), a couple places in Atlanta (i.e Dusty's and Fat Matt's Rib Shack), Columbus, Georgia, and one really good shack in Fayetteville, Arkansas. So take my opinion with a grain of salt. Still, I think I've come far from the kid who only had Tony Roma's while growing up in Hawaii.

As for Lightning Jack's, the service was nice and friendly, and the prices are relatively reasonable.

Lightning Jack's BBQ
4705 Clairemont Drive (In the Clairemont Town Center)
San Diego, CA 92117

Lucky's Golden Phenix

One day, while stopped at the traffic light at the intersection of Grim and University, I happened to glance at down Grim and saw a sign.

And did a double take......did I really see what I thought I did? I made a turn down 30th and back up North Park Way....and ok....."Phenix", not the word I thought it was, which kinda sounds like Phenix(not Phoenix), but is a part of the male anatomy. I noticed the shop was closed, the sign said the hours were 715 to Noon, but it was only 11am! So I figured that this was one of those wonderful little hole-in-the-wall places like Ray's Cafe, which used to be on the corner of Smith and Beretania in Honolulu. They used to have a wonderful butcher paper sign on the door, on which was written, "when the door open we open, when the door closed we closed". Simplicity, practicality, and common sense all wrapped up in one phrase.

Looking at the menu, filled with straight-forward breakfast items, I was struck by the prices. The most expensive offering was $4.30! The Denver Omelette with Cheese. How could this place exist? I knew I had to check it out. So on a recent morning, I arrived to find the place open, and entered through the red door.....and down the rabbit hole.

And entered what looked like something that was part diner meets Big Trouble in Little China. Some back alley Chinatown diner.

A strange mix of "stuff" that for me, was a charming, just North of tacky, kitschy collection of almost every type of stereotypical, campy, 1960's-1970's Chinese decoration and faux art. A somewhat bizarre collection of thingamajiggies, whatchamacallits, with some whosamawhatsits thrown in.

Which along with the singing bass, the "songbirds of America" clocks, and the photo of Arnold Schwarzenegger from his bodybuilding days, made me wonder what evil genius put together this collection.

Which leads us to Lucky, the one man show who runs the place. Lucky does everything, takes your order, cooks your food, runs the register, and buses the counter. Lucky also gives out free health tips, as only a curmudgeonly, Chinese grandfather could. Like when I asked about my toast without butter; "are you a health nut? You gonna be old and look like me one day, do you want to stay that way forever?"

So of course I got my toast "buttered"(or margerined). When a pair of older ladies came in, Lucky asked them if they wanted some coffee. When one of the women declined, Lucky said; "yes, you too young for coffee, it will stunt your growth!" Lucky for me, the toast was not as dry as his wit.

I ordered a simple 2 eggs over easy, and a hamburger patty($3.60), which came with the afore mentioned toast, and some perfectly griddled hash browns:

Everything was done just as you would expect a veteran of so many years of cooking(I was told since the mid-70's) would do. Eggs were nice and runny, the preformed burger had a nice crust, and it was no crime if you wanted to throw some ketchup, or a shake of salt and pepper on your food.

Just don't complain about that little sheen of oil that lies on the bottom of your plate. "Oil, we use canola oil. It is good for you, help you digest. Your body is like your car, no oil, it won't run!" The coffee is 100% Folgers(85 cents - 10 cents for refills), and the clientele is 100% North Park, a mix of working stiffs, the elderly, and other regulars who need a good, but inexpensive breakfast. A group right out of central casting, I'm sure thousands of stories have echoed off the walls at Golden Phenix. Lucky moves at a steady pace while briefly chatting with every customer, that he wears all of the hats in this joint is pretty impressive. One thing I did notice about Lucky was, he doesn't like to make change. I asked Lucky what I owed him(in addition to my breakfast I had some coffee and 1 refill), and he said, "just give me 4 dollars".

And the coup de grace? After you're done with your meal.....

I know mine said, "it's your lucky day!"

One of the regulars, told me that Golden Phenix was indeed a Chinese Restaurant. You can tell that the "Chinese" portion was buffed out of the sign. They sure don't make 'em like Lucky's Golden Phenix anymore.

Lucky's Golden Phenix
3804 Grim Ave
San Diego, CA 92104

Oggi's- a local chain- Beer, pizza, salads, burgers, sandwiches,televisions

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog about food that Kirk, ed (from Yuma), Cathy and a few others eat out or prepare at home.  Today, Cathy is blogging because she has a password to get onto Typepad.com and can.

Hi again.  I was getting ready to start this post and realized just how predictable I am, based on what The Mister and I ordered here. But anyhow, it is what we eat when we come to this San Diego based Sports Bar, Oggi's (pronounced Oh-jeez).     

First, we always order a sampler of the beers brewed here.  $7 for seven five ounce glasses. (bottom left, going up- Hefe, Pale Ale, Amber, Gold..bottom right going up-IPA, Scottish and Stout).  Supposedly people get the sampler and then order a pint of whatever they like best.  I never can decide and each beer has its own distinctive qualities.  I just enjoy my sips and share with The Mister and then drink water.

We always order a salad, and The Mister chooses.  This time it was the Balsamic Chicken ($9.50) quite large, with warm chicken breast strips, candied walnuts, feta cheese and a delightful basil balsamic dressing, served with one breadstick.  I know I could never eat this portion by myself.  

Then I order what I always order, the "make your own" calzone ($7.95).  Just three cheeses inside- a sweet, fresh ricotta, very nice, fresh and stringy when melted mozzarella and Fontina.  These are surrounded by a fresh made dough that is slightly sweet and baked properly. By properly, I mean it is crispy and chewy and not mushy, even with fillings. 

Here is a cross section of my half, with some fresh made, very nice, fresh tomato based marinara sauce and the side of sweet pepper and pickle that accompanies. We won't discuss why they give you a pickle.  They just do.

Of course, it is a "make your own" calzone, yet The Mister just does not want any anchovies invading his half of the calzone, so I just ask for them on the side ($1.25).  Heh heh...

Oggi's has many television sets set to various sporting events inside and outside the restaurant.  The food is always very fresh and tasty.  There are many locations in Southern California and Arizona.

website

At the beginning, when I said The Mister and I order predictably, I was thinking about this post from last February.